I Have It On Good Authority That Richard Powers Sobbed Like Tom Hanks and Pronounced Himself “King of the World” When He Received His National Book Award

Steve Erickson: “The big publishers in New York no longer know how to publish literary fiction. I compare it to the big studios: They’re publishing blockbusters, and once in a while they bring out their prestige Oscar books, like Richard Powers.”

“This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Theodore Dreiser, Kurt Vonnegut, Nelson Algren. It’s for the people that stand beside me, Harlan Ellison, Ana Castillo, Jennifer Egan. And it’s for every nameless, faceless Midwestern geek that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”